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SNAP Policy Whiplash Leaves Millions Uncertain About Food Assistance; Senate Holds Rare Sunday Vote To End Shutdown; Delays, Cancellations Plague Airports On Day 40 of Shutdown; Hamas Hands Over Body Of Israeli Soldier Killed In 2014; Frigid Air Brings Record Cold To Dozens Of States. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired November 09, 2025 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:36]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

As the U.S. government shutdown hits Day 39 now, the lack of funding for millions of Americans who rely on critical federal food assistance, known as the SNAP program, is in more legal limbo.

Last night, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused a lower court order that required the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP this month. The court's administrative stay freezes any additional action by the administration to give an appeals court additional time to review the case.

Our Kevin Liptak is following the developments from the White House. He's joining us from Florida, traveling with the president.

So tell us more about the latest breaking news on this, on the food SNAP program that the USDA is now ordering states to stop issuing any kind of full SNAP benefits.

And this comes after so much back-and-forth from the U.S. Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown ruling to defer to the appellate court to process the challenge from the White House. And now the USDA is also issuing an order.

So bring us up to speed, Kevin.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, yes. And it really is just kind of the latest curveball for the 42 million Americans who rely on these programs to get their groceries every month.

And it's kind of the latest turn in this ongoing legal battle which at its heart is about whether the administration can or indeed must pay those full monthly benefits to the recipients of these programs.

What the administration is saying now is that any state who issued the full SNAP payments after the Supreme Court put those pause on them must now undo those payments and instead proceed with the partial payments, which add up to about 65 percent of what the normal allotment would be.

And just to rewind a little bit here, several states had sued the administration, saying that they were obligated to use emergency funding to pay full SNAP benefits for the month of November.

A federal judge ordered the administration to fully fund the program, and several states, including Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon raced to release that funding.

But the administration quickly appealed and applied for an emergency pause on fully funding those benefits at the Supreme Court. Ketanji Brown Jackson issued that pause so that the appeals court could sort of review it and rule more definitively.

So that review is underway but in the meantime, the administration is now saying that the states that sent out those full benefits must now immediately undo those steps.

And what the Agriculture Department, which administers this program, wrote in a memo, said that "To the extent that states sent full SNAP payments files for November, this was unauthorized. Accordingly, states must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025."

And it went on to say that failure to comply with this memorandum may result in USDA taking various actions, including cancellation of the federal share of state administrative costs and holding states liable for any over issuances that result from noncompliance.

And so this really does leave in limbo the 1 in 8 Americans who rely on these programs as these legal battles unfold. Obviously, we've seen the administration issue multiple pieces of guidance as various courts issues rulings.

And what you've heard from Democrats today is that this is all creating an enormous amount of confusion.

Wes Moore, the mayor -- or the governor of Maryland, I'm sorry -- said that there was no clarity at all and that this was all creating intentional chaos.

And Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, said that the cruelty was the point and that it is their choice to do this, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kevin Liptak, we'll check back with you. Thank you so much.

And all this while the U.S. Senate is continuing to work this weekend in its efforts to end the government shutdown on Capitol Hill.

[14:04:50]

WHITFIELD: Right now, the Senate is holding a rare Sunday session after yesterday's very rare Saturday session and vowing to continue meeting until the government reopens. CNN's Arlette Saenz is joining us right now. Arlette, are we expecting

any progress potentially today? Any votes, any changes?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, Republican senators have shown some signs of hope that they will be able to take a first procedural vote to reopen the government a bit later today.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, as he arrived here at the Capitol this afternoon, told reporters that he was planning to bring up a procedural vote on that House-backed funding bill.

But the big question is whether enough Democrats would actually get on board to move that forward.

What Thune is hoping to do is hold that procedural vote and then later add in some amended text, which would fund the government until late January. Along with three other appropriation bills to fund some agencies like the military, agriculture through the entire year.

But there's a big question still about where Democrats stand on this matter. You heard on Friday Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer offered the Democratic counterproposal which required a one-year extension of those expiring Obamacare subsidies in order to vote on reopening the government.

That is something that Republicans have said is a nonstarter. They are hoping that just offering a vote to -- a date to vote on Obamacare subsidies might be enough to get Democrats on board.

But I put this question to one GOP senator a bit earlier today about whether he believes enough Democrats will get there, and he says he's hopeful. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Do you think that enough Democrats are going to get on board with this procedural vote if it's held tonight.

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): It's on them. I mean, I don't know how they vote against it. Keeps them from holding the American people hostage, but also on the other side, I guess, from their political point of view, it doesn't allow them to have leverage moving forward. And then it moves the CR to the end of January.

So I think it's very difficult for them to vote against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So a lot of questions for Democratic senators whether they will get on board with this plan. Republicans will need eight Democrats to join them if they do want to clear this first procedural hurdle.

And even if they do do that, it still would be a matter of days before the government could be reopened, as the Senate procedure would still take some time. And then this has to go over to the House, which has currently been out of session since September 19th, Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. Arlette Saenz, thanks so much.

All right. Turning now to the impact that all of this is having on air travel where there are growing flight cancellations and delays as this shutdown now drags on. We're in Day 40. And the DOT, Department of Transportation says not to expect any relief anytime soon.

The FAA last week ordered airlines to reduce the number of domestic flights by 4 percent at 40 of the busiest airports.

And this morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he expects travel ahead of the holidays to be reduced to a trickle, his words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: You're going to see air travel be reduced to a trickle.

We have a number of people who want to get home for the holidays. They want to see their family. They want to celebrate this great American holiday.

Listen, many of them are not going to be able to get on an airplane because they are not going to be that many flights that fly. If this thing doesn't open back up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN is covering the impact at airports of both Newark and Atlanta airports.

Let's begin with CNN correspondent Leigh Waldman. Leigh, you're in Newark. What's happening and what's not happening?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, not a lot of flights are taking off on time. That's what's not happening here. It's more flight cancellations and delays midway through the day than we even saw at the end of the day when we were here on Saturday.

Take a look at our big board. Most of the flights that we see on this board here, most of them are either delayed or canceled. We know there's more than 400 flight delays leaving this airport today. More than 200 flights have already been canceled.

People keep coming up to this board. Travelers keep coming up to this board staring at it, and then you hear a long sigh.

We spoke to one man. He's trying to get to Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport to go home for work next week. And he said, my flights only delayed an hour now, knowing how bad it could be.

And he's just keeping his fingers crossed it doesn't get canceled and doesn't get delayed even further than that.

We know that there are several different of the TraCon or air traffic control facilities that are feeling those staffing shortage impacts, including the facility that maintains the airspace here over the Newark Airport.

People yesterday trying to remain hopeful that they'll get to work on Monday on time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEPHDALI ROMAN, JR., FATHER'S FLIGHT DELAYED: The main thing is not really the wait time. It's just getting home safe and going back to our normal lives.

MARY MACHUCA, FLIGHT DELAYED: I'm a little nervous about that. I know my mind starts feeling ok, what are we going to do? What's plan b? How are we going to get back home? Because I mean, at least we have an extra day. But I mean, I got to get to work on Monday morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:09:54]

WALDMAN: And Fred, unfortunately, looking at Monday, there's more cancellations already prepared from some of those major airlines.

WHITFIELD: All right. Leigh Waldman, thanks so much.

All right. Let's go to Atlanta at a very busy airport there -- usually very busy.

Rafael Romo is there for us. So how busy? How many disruptions are people dealing with? How are folks doing?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Well, we have a lot of people coming to the screens here behind me that show cancellations and delays.

Just to give you an idea about how things are going on right now. Take a look at screen number three that shows the destination, starting with the letter D.

Dayton, Ohio canceled; two flights canceled there. Same thing with Daytona Beach, also Detroit, I'm also looking at Fort Lauderdale. Those destinations are canceled.

And Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport leads when it comes to delays and cancellations today, 200 -- 200 plus for both of those counts.

But you can see here on my left, not too terribly busy. The baggage drop area here at Atlanta airport. Just a few moments ago, I was talking to a gentleman who told me that he made the decision to buy two tickets for his wife flying back from Dallas because they had been told by the airline that there was no guarantee that their flight was not going to be canceled.

Just a few moments ago, we saw her coming back home. She's here. But again, it gives you an idea about the confusion that many people feel when they come here. Also, I had an opportunity to talk to a gentleman who had just been

informed that his flight was canceled and he was trying to navigate a very confusing situation with the airlines.

This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED GEORGES, TRAVELER: On my way to the airport today, flying back to Sarasota. And I get the alert this morning that it's been canceled yesterday.

So now I'm scrambling trying to find a flight back.

ROMO: Do you have any good options right now? Do you know --

(CROSSTALKING)

GEORGES: No. Right now it's just getting through this fiasco.

SARAH LUNDEEN, TRAVELER: I would hope that both sides would start negotiating and get things back open for folks, but I understand from people coming to work without being guaranteed pay or, you know, waiting on back pay, I can understand why it's tough to keep everything staffed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Fred, officials here at the airport issued a statement on Thursday, the very same day the FAA announced that there were going to be cancellations across the country at 40 specific airports.

The statement says the following.

"Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is operating without interruption. We are aware that ATL has been identified among the airports affected by the FAA's temporary air traffic reductions related to the ongoing federal shutdown. Therefore, we are preparing to activate measures to ensure that passengers who may be affected by the FAA flight reductions continue to have an optimal experience."

And finally, Fred, of course, Hartsfield Jackson is a hub for Delta Airlines. On Saturday, they had to cancel 380 flights, both mainline and regional. It remains to be seen what's going to happen by the end of the day today.

Fred, now back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rafael Romo, thank you so much there at Atlanta's airport.

All right. And now this breaking news just coming in to CNN.

A huge media shakeup this hour as two top leaders of Britain's television network, BBC, say they are resigning after allegations the British Broadcasting Corporation made a misleading edit of a speech by President Trump.

I want to go straight to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter. Brian, tell us more about what -- what happened?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, there's both a -- there's both a narrow story here about this edit and then a very big story about the state of the British broadcasting system, Fred.

It's very notable both Tim Davie, who is the chief executive of all of the BBC, as well as Deborah Turness, who is the head of BBC News. They are both stepping down this afternoon, this evening in the U.K. And they are both citing this recent controversy, but also the broader climate the BBC operates in.

So about the edit, this row actually started about a week ago after a British newspaper got a hold of an internal memo describing a misleading edit that was made to a documentary that aired last fall, right before the U.S. election day.

This documentary was about Trump's attempt to return to office, and it spliced together two different parts of Trump's infamous speech at the Ellipse on January 6th, 2021.

So the documentary made it sound like Trump was telling his supporters that he was going to walk with them to the Capitol to, quote, "fight like hell".

Trump actually said that day he was going to walk with them to the Capitol to cheer on Republican lawmakers.

Of course, Trump never actually made that walk. He did refer repeatedly to fighting that day, but the edit was misleading in this documentary.

But here's the thing. The documentary was shown on the BBC last year. Nobody seemed to notice this misleading edit at the time.

[14:14:48]

STELTER: It was only in the past few days when this internal memo was leaked that there became a big political controversy, both in the U.K. and here in the U.S., with some of Trump's friends and allies deriding the BBC. Karoline Leavitt, for example, calling the network "fake news".

So within the company, there was pressure on the BBC to apologize, to take action. And now this weekend, we see the two top leaders both stepping down.

But there's a broader context here. It's not just about one edit to one documentary. The BBC has been under immense political pressure in the U.K. for some time.

When you're the head of the BBC, it feels like you are a punching bag whether it's over coverage of Israels war in Gaza, whether it's over dramas or comedies that are airing on the schedule, whether it's over all sorts of different things.

And Tim Davie in his resignation memo refers to the feverish nature of the environment, saying that he's had a wonderful time for five years running the organization.

That the board was still supporting him but he's decided to start to step down. Still a very dramatic move at the BBC, which is known for everything for, you know, dramas like "Traitors", all the way to the BBC News operation that exists all around the world.

Quite unusual to see the two top leaders of that news organization both stepping down under pressure.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right. It is indeed pretty seismic.

All right, Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

All right. Straight ahead, with a growing number of families running out of SNAP benefits, the demand on public food banks is surging. A look at how they are handling that.

And next, the body of an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza more than ten years ago is now back home. We'll go live to Jerusalem for details.

[14:16:27]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

New today, Hamas has handed over the body of an Israeli soldier killed more than ten years ago in Gaza. Lieutenant Hadar Goldin died in 2014 as Israel's war with Hamas was drawing to a close. Israel says it conducted DNA testing of the remains earlier today.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is joining us now from Jerusalem. Oren, what more do we know about this soldier?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Fredricka, this all moved fairly quickly earlier today. The body was transferred from Hamas to the Red Cross inside of Gaza to Israeli military forces inside of Gaza.

It was then brought out and sent to a forensic lab to make sure that this was indeed the body of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who had been killed in the closing days of the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict, effectively right before the ceasefire there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the expectation that Hamas would indeed hand him over, specifically naming Goldin as the remains, as the body that Israel was set to receive, and that confirmation came just a few short hours later.

Confirmation, the family has been waiting for ever since 2014, more than a decade ago. They, in fact, had held a funeral for him back then. But this is the moment the ability to properly bury him now that the family has been waiting for.

Outside of their home in Kfar Saba, just north of Tel Aviv, the father of Hadar Goldin, Simha Goldin, said this. "We brought Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, our son, a fighter to be buried in Israel. We achieved this because our soldiers fought to bring warriors back from the battlefield.

The IDF brought Hadar back to his homeland, no one else. So we hold fast to these values that we don't abandon soldiers on the battlefield because this is a value and we don't compromise on values. And what this war has proven is that when we fight for our soldiers, we succeed. Victory means bringing home the hostages and bringing home our soldiers to Israel."

The transfer of Goldin's body earlier today is the fifth such transfer in the last eight days. So this is the last key element of the first phase of the ceasefire. And we're watching this play out here.

After the transfer of Goldin's remains earlier today, there are still the remains of four deceased hostages held in Gaza. And that is the crucial final part of the first phase of the deal as the U.S. tries to push this forward and tries to make sure that this goes into the much more difficult phase two part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, thanks so much.

All right. straight ahead, a look at the stress caused by the shutdown on the nation's air traffic controllers, how they're dealing with staffing shortages combined with zero-dollar paychecks.

[14:23:47]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

While lawmakers on Capitol Hill remain at a stalemate over the government shutdown. Live pictures right now from the Senate floor where they're debating a number of things, including how to get the government back open again.

All of this while millions of Americans face empty pantries after SNAP benefits were paused. Further adding to the confusion over the back- and-forth surrounding SNAP benefits, the USDA is now ordering states to cease, stop issuing full food stamp benefits and to, I'm quoting now, immediately undo payments. Exactly what that means or how it would be carried out, still unclear.

The directive came just a day after the U.S. Supreme Court paused a lower court order that required the Trump administration to cover full benefits so as to go through the appellate process.

But Maryland Governor Wes Moore and California Governor Gavin Newsom are joining a growing list of governors now taking matters into their own hands, funding SNAP from state coffers. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. WES MOORE (D-MD): I have authorized over $10 million that's going towards heating assistance for people in the state of Maryland; over $10 million has gone to our Maryland food banks; that we have made public transportation free for all of our federal workers because they, in many cases are going to work and not being paid.

And I have also authorized $62 million to go toward SNAP, to make sure that SNAP is not going to be interrupted for the people of Maryland for as long as we can, despite the fact that we are waiting for the president of the United States to finally do his job.

MOORE: We are watching the president, who is literally breaking the law, so people can starve.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): In California, they were fully restored in my state through November.

[14:30:01]

That said, they obviously have not been in the vast majority of states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The USDA also warning states that if they don't follow these instructions, they could lose federal funding or have to pay back the extra benefits that they have dispensed out.

Well, today, airports are dealing with long lines and extended wait times as more flights are disrupted during this ongoing U.S. government shutdown. United Airlines says it is canceling more than 600 flights through Tuesday to comply with mandated schedule reductions.

These disruptions are creating problems for workers and passengers alike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX CAPPADONA, FLEW FROM CALIFORNIA: It's a terrifying feeling. It's scary. It's unknown. We don't know how long this is going to go on for, and any future plans I want to make, I'm not going to until everything is situated and figured out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Let's get more perspective now from David Riley. He's a retired FAA air traffic controller and former ATC union rep.

David, great to see you.

So -- I mean, this is terrible for a lot of people. The transportation secretary saying today that flights will drop to a trickle before the busy holiday travel season. I mean, what's your reaction to that? Before I ask you, you know what a lot of your colleagues are thinking and feeling.

DAVID RILEY, RETIRED FAA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Yeah. Good afternoon, Fredericka. I appreciate you having me on.

Yeah, it's interesting how things are transpiring, especially in the last 48 hours. This mandatory scheduling cutback of 10 percent flights across the board is kind of ludicrous, in my opinion, because it's having this effect on the flying public, but it's not going to have the effect that I think the administration and the FAA is looking for because controllers are still showing up for work.

Yeah, some of them are sticking out because of the fatigue that they've had to go through. Go through over the last month and what, 38 days now, but also, they've been overworked since the pandemic hit and that's like five years now. They're working unprecedented amounts of overtime, 10-hour days, you know, six days a week.

And now, not getting paid. They're having to go find second jobs in a lot of cases. There are some people that are just now looking to how they filed bankruptcy because of this, yet they're still showing up for work when they can.

And the fatigue issue is a real thing because contractually, controllers have an obligation that when they are fatigued, they have to report to their supervisor and say, hey, I'm fatigued, I can't come into work and safely do my job. I'm not on my A game. I'm not 100 percent. I have to call out sick because they have no other choice.

They have an obligation because God forbid, a controller is distracted by what's going on at home when he's working on position. And this is just an overwhelming amount of distraction and God forbid, something fatal happens. They'll look at that controller, but ultimately, it's going to be the people that are causing this shutdown and these controllers to not get paid. It's going to have a real impact.

I mean, you've got the TSA workers as well that are going unpaid. And now the military, I'm seeing military families standing in food lines on base and off base in these military towns. This madness has got to stop.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, it's very distressing for so many. So, I wonder if we could zero in on what you were saying about, you know, the stresses that already a lot of air traffic controllers are enduring. And now you don't have a paycheck. You're stressed on top of the stress that you are dealing with.

And we heard from the Transportation Secretary Duffy who said one of the reasons why they're cutting back on the flights is because so many of the air traffic controllers are continuing to be stressed and having to call out for a variety of reasons, as you just mentioned. So, I mean, is this assisting the air traffic controllers? I mean, to cut back on flights, I mean, how is this helping to alleviate some of their stresses, even though they're continuing to come to work? Many of them, without paychecks?

RILEY: Well, you kind of mentioned it, and it's very true. If you drill down on -- on it and you can break it down by facility, by sector in the environment, you could really drill it down and find out whether or not these cuts are being effective or not. So just to arbitrarily do it 10 percent across the board, how effective it is, will yet be seen.

However, if the administration keeps going down this path of saying, oh, we're going to increase it to 10 percent by Monday and arbitrarily 15 percent by Friday, I mean, all they're doing is ramping up the pain on the American public.

But what you mentioned about the controllers, there's a lot of controllers that are finding new employment. I mean, there's jobs out there for them.

I know several controllers that have are now taking jobs in places like Australia because they don't have the same issues. The pay and benefits are comparable, and they have a skill, a unique skill that they can go somewhere else and work. So that's part of the problem.

Then you're also seeing those people that are eligible to retire saying, hey, I'm not going to put up with this anymore. I'm not getting paid anyway. So, I might as well retire and see what happens down that road.

[14:35:02]

So, it's a severe issue that that controllers are not sticking around because -- I mean, for the for the most part, controllers are really dedicated employees. I mean, we have a really cool job that is high visibility that everybody loves to hear the stories about. But when it comes down to it, it is a job.

And unless you're getting paid to do it, you got to provide for your family somehow. That's what we all do. So --

WHITFIELD: So those colleagues that you --

RILEY: -- it's having that widespread effect.

WHITFIELD: Oh, understood. I mean, you're painting a great picture for us.

So, of those, you know, colleagues of yours who are opting to take jobs overseas and, you know, in other places, is it their feeling that this is temporary when the U.S. government gets its act together and is back up and running again, it you know, they plan to come back and you know and be air traffic controllers here in the U.S.? Or do you believe that they're making permanent decisions for themselves?

RILEY: Oh, it's definitely more of a permanent decision. I mean, this kind of job, the training is so intense and it takes so long that once you get into it, you. I mean, I'm talking 10, 15 years before you decided you wanted to do something.

But also, the point that you mentioned earlier, we -- the controller workforce has been overworked since 1981, when Ronald Reagan fired all the controllers post the strike and the staffing has never gotten to the levels that it should be. So, people have been working a lot of overtime, and then it was only exacerbated with the pandemic, when the -- a lot of people started retiring from the job, seeing the writing on the wall.

And the staffing, when we have these shutdowns or like during the pandemic, the government shut down for a different reason, but it really sets back the training process. And when you can't backfill for controllers that are just aging out, for example, or, you know, various numbers of reasons, you can't get the training process spooled back up, they're going to leave.

And controllers have been underpaid for a long time. 2009 was the last contractual increase they've had to their pay. And so, a lot of them are looking at that going, wow, I can't keep up with the cost of living, so I'll go somewhere else --

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

RILEY: -- and take my skills somewhere else.

So, not only do we need to pay them now for the duties that they are doing, but the controllers need to be able to look to the future and know that they're going to be able to continue, you know, making a living with what they do.

WHITFIELD: Understood, David. And very unfortunate. You are helping to open the eyes of many who perhaps didn't have a clear understanding of, you know, just how deep the impact is here.

David Riley, thank you so much.

RILEY: Yeah. Thank you, Fredricka. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, we've got eyes on Cape Canaveral for a new mission to Mars, the first in five years. The tight launch window is about to open, and we'll look at the plans from NASA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:42:28]

WHITFIELD: All right. Happening right now, negotiations are underway in the U.S. Senate to bring up a vote today to end the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. Democrats are holding firm that any deal includes a one-year extension of Obamacare subsidies. But Republicans are throwing cold water on that, saying there's no way it will happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): They also want us to continue for another year, Obamacare, which is the biggest scam on the planet. President Trump said yesterday, I will not accept continuing to give hundreds of billions of dollars to money-sucking healthcare insurance companies under Obamacare. I'm going to give the money to the people so they can buy better and cheaper healthcare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Recent polling, however, shows there is rare bipartisan agreement on the subsidies. The independent Kaiser Family Foundation finds nearly three quarters of Americans support extending them. That includes 94 percent of Democrats and half of Republicans.

Let's discuss more now with CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer, who is also a Princeton historian and professor.

Julian, great to see you.

So, what is the calculus as to why Republican lawmakers are not budging?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, they're facing two sources of pressure. On the one hand, I think they are hearing from constituents who are upset and worried, and they're seeing poll numbers like the one you just mentioned on the subsidies.

But they're listening to President Trump and President Trump does not want to give at this point and they're scared of angering him. So, I think that tension has been playing out for weeks at this point.

WHITFIELD: And this after Democrats, you know, won big and races across the country delivering a huge rebuke to President Trump and Republicans in power. Do you think those victories, you know, that everyone witnessed will you know, give Democrats in congress the ability to keep going with their demands in this shutdown fight and continue on with the kind of momentum they feel that they have.

ZELIZER: They will. I mean, the public is at least at this point still blaming the Republicans and the effects of this shutdown will only become more severe with each day. And they feel emboldened because they're seeing the first evidence that people are voting against MAGA in certain places.

But of course, Democrats are going to be cautious. They understand that as people get angry, as people get more frustrated, as people are hurting from the shutdown, it's hard to know which direction this moves.

[14:45:08]

And they also care about constituents.

WHITFIELD: You recently wrote on your Substack about what you call the Reagan fallacy in this shutdown fight. What do you mean?

ZELIZER: Well, the fallacy is because Americans say they hate government, that they actually hate the policies they're used to. And literally since the 1980s, you have poll after poll showing Americans don't like government in the abstract. But when you talk about a specific program, such as the ACA, such as food stamps and SNAP, people like their benefits. And so, the fallacy is those general polls reflect how people actually

feel about government. And that's why shutdowns can really bite politically, because people start to see just how much they value the government programs that, again, in the abstract, they often blast.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julian Zelizer, always great to see you. Thanks so much.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, get ready.

Millions of Americans will wake up to a record chill this week with the chance of snow in parts of the country.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has a look at the latest forecast.

So, Allison, where is the cold setting in this week?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is an early start to winter for most folks in the eastern half of the country, and it's all thanks to this cold front right through here. It's not only bringing that surge of cold air behind it, but that means any moisture that's there is in the form. Of snow, and that will continue through the evening and overnight hours tonight.

There's that cold swath of air. The good news is it is going to be short lived because once we get to the latter portion of the upcoming week, we finally start to see those temperatures rebounding back to normal and in some cases, even above normal.

Wind is also going to be a concern over the next 24 hours, as that cold front slides by. So that means through tonight and even into Monday, many areas along the eastern seaboard are looking at some wind gusts up around 40, even 50 miles per hour in some spots. All of these dots that you see here on the map represent a potential record low temperature.

Now for some areas, that's going to happen Monday. Others, it will hold off until Tuesday. But in a few spots, you could even break a record for both the high temperature and the low temperature.

Here's a look at some of those highs that we saw for today. You'll see it's still going to be relatively warm along the Eastern Seaboard, but this is the last day. Once you get into Monday you see all of those temperatures dropping back down, in some cases by 20 to 30 degrees, compared to where they were just the day before.

Tuesday, we start to see more of that shifting into areas of the Northeast, and you actually start to see some of these temperatures warming back here across the western plains. And that's what we will start to see spreading eastward in the coming days. Take Atlanta for example. Not too bad for Sunday. The big dip happens

on Monday, but we finally start to see those temperatures getting back up actually above normal. By the time we head into the upcoming weekend.

And a very similar case here for Cincinnati. You've got snow in the forecast on Monday is that temperature may not even make it much above freezing for the high temperature, but we are back into the 60s as we head into the weekend.

WHITFIELD: My goodness, what a -- what a crazy week.

All right. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, schools near military bases depend heavily on federal funding to keep their doors open. We'll talk with the superintendent of a Texas district about how the government shutdown is impacting students and staff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:50]

WHITFIELD: All right. From bread baked in an Icelandic volcano to Tokyo's renowned Japanese milk bread, join Tony for a special back to back episode finale of the CNN original series, "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, Icelanders love bread in general. I mean, this is probably the most traditional one we bake in the volcano.

TONY SHALHOUB, CNN HOST (voice-over): You heard him right. This bread will be baked by the geothermal heat created in 1973, when the still active Eldfell volcano blew her stack.

SHALHOUB: So, you put it in, walk away --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk away. Come back the next day.

SHALHOUB: Don't have to set a timer. Go back and get the bread.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then we hope that it's --

SHALHOUB: And we --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- perfect. Yes.

SHALHOUB (voice-over): The ingredients are simple -- buttermilk, brown sugar, salt, baking powder and rye flour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put it in like a milk carton and bake it in this.

SHALHOUB: Why do you want to do it in a milk carton?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just seals it really nicely, and it creates like a steam inside.

SHALHOUB: Look at this. This is gorgeous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So. we're just going to wrap it up from the bread.

SHALHOUB: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, are you ready for some hike up -- up to the volcano?

SHALHOUB: Let's do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Oh, now I want to know.

Well, that's why we have to tune in. The back-to-back episode finale of "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD" airs tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN. And next day on the CNN app.

(MUSIC)

WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The longest U.S. government shutdown in U.S. history is now in its 40th day. As frustration and anxiety mount for millions of Americans at airports across the country this weekend, thousands of flights canceled or delayed due to the shutdown, and it's expected to get even worse. The situation is also growing more desperate and chaotic for 42 million Americans who rely on food stamps to buy groceries.

The USDA is now ordering all states to stop issuing full SNAP benefits, and quoting them, "undo" any benefits sent for the month of November.